John Matthews
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday in a case that could decide the fate of the name “Washington Redskins,” but there will be no one representing the football team arguing before the court.
That’s because the case in question is a legal argument over the name of an Oregon-based rock band, The Slants.
The government has refused to provide federal trademark protection to the name because it considers the term “Slant” to be an offensive reference to Asians.
On that score, the band’s founder, Simon Tam, agrees. He says the name was chosen specifically to take on Asian culture stereotypes, with the goal of transforming a term once used as an insult into a statement of cultural pride. Tam believes the current law, which prohibits trademark protection for racial slurs, is a violation of his group’s First Amendment rights.
The Redskins are making essentially the same argument in their defense of their name, and the team’s attorneys petitioned the court last year to hear both cases together. However, the justices turned down the request and now a Virginia federal appeals court has put the Redskins case on hold pending the outcome of the Slants case.
The Redskins are appealing a 2014 decision by a U.S. Trademark Office panel to strip the team of its federal trademarks, but those protections remain in place pending appeal.
Team owner Dan Snyder insists the name honors Native Americans, but the team has faced years of legal challenges from groups that say it’s a racial slur.
Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved (PHOTO: The Slants/Facebook)
